PANEL 60    The Jacobite Rising of 1745

In the summer of 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie was rowed up Loch Shiel to join the muster of his Highland army. But only a handful of men greeted him. As hopes faded, the sound of the pipes of Clan Cameron was heard. About a thousand clansmen were led to Glenfinnan by Locheil and the rising had begun. Whatever faults he had – and they appear to have been many – Charles Edward Stuart had charisma and the surprise is not that he failed but that he very nearly succeeded. Unlike the Earl of Mar and the Old Pretender, the Prince and his generals moved forward with real intent. As clansmen flocked to the standard, they moved south quickly, reaching Edinburgh in September and taking the city without loss. At Prestonpans, the Highland charge tore into the terrified ranks of a government army commanded by Sir John Cope. The battle was a rout, lasting no more than 15 minutes and Prince Charles’s victory sent shock waves throughout Britain. On 8 November, the Jacobites invaded England and took Carlisle. But, by the time they reached Derby, the three government armies in England were closing in. Even if the Highlanders won again, they would lose between 1,000 and 1,500 casualties and that would make a fighting retreat back to Scotland impossible. Meanwhile London was in uproar, the stock market was falling and nervous preparations were made. The argument for retreat prevailed and it led all the way to Culloden and defeat in April 1746. The Stewart cause was at last lost. It was the beginning of a long end for the clans and an appallingly punitive campaign of killings and rapes followed the departure of the Prince. He died drunk, dissolute and friendless in Italy.

 

Panel stitched by:

EH41

Kathleen Bain

Candy Richardson

Avis Moore

Marjory Smith

Cindy Sykes

with stitches by 32 delegates to the Episcopalian Conference ‘Ta See Oursels’

Stitched in:

Haddington